Bacterial meningitis suspected in Bothell boy's death

By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Other links Northshore School District letter to parents Public Health — Seattle & King County Washington State Department of Health

The boy, believed to be 15, was an incoming sophomore at Bothell High School and recently attended an Eastern Washington football camp and football training sessions at Bothell High, with dozens of other teens.

"We're trying to establish where he was, what he did and what potential exposures there may have been," said state Department of Health spokesman Donn Moyer. Officials have recommended preventive medical treatment for a handful of people who were in close contact with the boy, he said.

As of late last night, officials with the King County Medical Examiner's Office had not released the boy's name or cause of death.

Still, Moyer said state and county health officials are working under the assumption he died from bacterial meningitis.

The state health department and Public Health — Seattle & King County have launched independent investigations into how the boy may have contracted the disease, which is known to progress quickly, Moyer said. But there is no general threat to the public, he said, explaining that bacterial meningitis can't be spread simply by being in the same room with an infected person.

Symptoms Bacterial meningitis causes swelling of the brain. It usually takes one to 10 days for symptoms to appear. Symptoms include a sudden high fever, intense headaches, difficulty breathing, vomiting, sleepiness, seizures and a rash of bluish-purple splotches. The disease is spread through the exchange of respiratory and throat secretions but is not spread by casual contact. Source: Public Health — Seattle & King County

Soon after Northshore School District officials learned of the boy's death, they phoned 136 students who attended a football training session at Bothell High Monday, said district spokeswoman Pamela Steele. Wednesday night, about 110 people attended a meeting with health and school officials there, she said.

"Everybody's just kind of numb, speechless," she said. "It's unbelievable how quickly something like that can happen."

Steele said the boy attended a football camp at Eastern Washington University (EWU) June 26-30. Because symptoms of bacterial meningitis often appear within days of exposure, health officials alerted their counterparts in Eastern Washington, she said. Bothell High was one of nine teams that attended the Eagle Football Team and Individual Football Camp at EWU in Cheney, said Dave Cook, the university's sports information director. Cook said he and other athletic staff were told by King County health officials the boy likely was infected before coming to the camp. "We were told he didn't contract it at Eastern, but probably earlier," Cook said.

The boy later attended the Bothell High School training camp Monday and started feeling sick that night, Steele said. "Things progressed very rapidly, and he died [Wednesday] afternoon."

Custodians at the high school were instructed to do extra cleaning, especially of drinking fountains in the weight room where most of the football players spent time, Steele said.

Meningitis, both bacterial and viral strains, has harmed other local athletes: A freshman basketball player at LaConner High School was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis last season s. An outbreak of viral meningitis hospitalized 16 Mount Vernon High School football players last September.

Times assistant sports editor Don Shelton and Times news partner KING-5 contributed to this report. Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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